Becoming a Group fitness instructor

I recently started on a journey that could become a quite interesting one; I went through the initial training for Les Mills Body Combat. Now I am allowed to call myself Group Fitness Instructor and stand on stage screaming at people. While moving myself to the beat of the music in the choreographed way. Because this instructor thing? It's not as easy as it looks. 
In the course of the initial training, you get to know the key elements to being a good instructor, but our trainer did not want us to become good, he wanted us to aspire to being World class instructors. However, it's gonna be a long way to World class. First off, there's more elements than you'd probably think.
You got to know and master your technique to set a good example. Then you have to know your choreo to get people moving. You need to know how, when, and what to coach. Make use of your voice. And perform your heart out. Because yes, it is a performance meant to physically move your class as well as entertain them. But that also means your sports performance; you can't hold back on stage. You gotta go the full hog, because only about 60-80% of your intensity reaches your class. If you perform at 60%, your class performs at 40% the most. Gotta go all in. And you know what? Going at 100% for 50min is incredibly exhausting. 
Now that I have been standing in front of a few classes, I have noticed, though, that you get so much positive energy back from a happy class that you really don't even think about reducing speed. 

Back to initial training. We had a whole weekend filled with 6-8 hours sports and instructing. It was hard, but rewarding, and as a group we grew together and it felt like we'd known each other for years and not mere days afterwards. This is where Les Mills' tribe idea comes through, and I for one would love to pass this on to my classes. 
After the weekend, I had to show our group fitness coordinator what I had learned and she gave me a pass as a shadow. With the old choreo still running, I couldn't have done anything else really, but now I got to speak on stage as well. I am allowed to instruct one track until I feel real comfy up there. Well, I am ecstatic to be on stage, but I still have these moments where I get overwhelmed by all the multitasking. So, it's going to be a while. But I already got some great feedback about my stage presence and movement, I have to put in some work into letting go and not trying to hide behind my team teach partner, though. 

Let's see how this pans out, but I'm happy as a clam. 

Never judge a book by its cover. Or: a week back in Germany

"I've got fire for a heart, I'm not scared of the dark, never made it look so easy [...] Nobody's gonna drag me down" 

(One Direction - Drag Me Down)

This has been the soundtrack to my first week back in Germany. How has life in Germany treated me so far? The answer is, I'm not sure. It still feels like I'm only on vacation. I mean, yeah, I've been working five days within the last seven days, but work doesn't feel like work. It's strange to think that I get money for giving people food and taking their money. It's pretty physical, yes, but fun, too. And our team is just great. I love the fact that people are talking Russian and Turkish left and right, even though I understand neither. But yeah, it's kind of surreal that I get paid for this.

Then I started following the youtube-account "Yoga with Adriene" and the accounts "30 Days of Yoga"-videos, meaning I've been doing yoga every day for at least 20min, which is astonishingly addictive. Or rather: I notice how I feel worse when I don't down-dog and plank and stretch it out. 

On the gym side of things, I've been a little lazy, only going to the gym every other day. Went to Grit Plyo on Thursday and boy, the instructor was...for lack of a more sophiaticated word...hot. And he knew what he did. which made him even hotter. But yeah, was a great Grit.

Saturday I went to a Combat class. The fourth Combat class I've attended in Germany at Superfit this far and for the first time I had an instructor who knew what she was doing. For the first time an instructor that could be compared to the ones in Finland. I'm a spoiled brat, when it comes to this because I'm used to instructors on a really high level. Good-looking, fun, nice instructors that are really good at what they're doing. Which brings me to the topic at hand: yesterday I went to BodyStep and BodyPump at Superfit Mitte and there was this dude on stage that looked a little like a charicature or Goofy as an instructor: he wore one of those 80's sweatbands on his forehead and short shorts and his hair looked funny and I was just like: "You kidding me?!?" But I thought that it'd be better to do some uninspired training with him than just leave and go later in the day. 

And right I was. Partly. It was a good decision to stay. And I was wrong; the classes were far from uninspired. Actually, they were two of the most fun and rad classes I've been to in Germany. One of the greatest BodyStep-classes overall. And not in spite of but because of his quirky personality that was paired with a great deal of knowledge about technique and anatomy. He gave great pointers and made me laugh more than once during the two hours that just flew by. He still reminded me of Goofy, but by the end of Pump-class it didn't matter any more, because he won me over. In spite of my previously made decision that no one is ever gonna be as great as the instructors at my Finnish gym. 

Another one that really got to me was the BodyAttack instructor whose class I already went to in August. She's not funny like Goofy, but she gets me to do stuff. She's efficient. And nice to look at. I'm not into girls, but if I were, I'd definitely crush on her. 

When it comes to MMA/BJJ, it's still rather boring, because I did not have the peace of mind to go and set up the contract with the gym. Also, there's a shitload of stuff ahead right now. The next two days, I'll be out of town and then it's the weekend and they're closed and then my mom's here and then it's almost October again. Ugh. And there's my five day work week next week, because I only have one day this week. But after me mom's gone, I'll be putting some effort in there, too. But right now, I got drive and I'm unsettled and I got itchy feet and wanderlust and yeah. I'll keep you posted about my ex tempore stunt that's gonna happen this night. 

Grit Strength, or: I challenge you to focus on your technique

Ugh, please remind me to never half-ass technique during a Grit-class again. Today I decided to concentrate on technique rather than rep count and I got myself so much more exhausted, it's not even funny anymore. Normally, I just do everything as fast as possible and as many reps as possible, sacrificing the right technique and weight. I could easily up the weight on my bar a little if my pride didn't take a hit when I have to take a break or get in less reps than the person next to me. 

But today, I always started out with clean technique and the burn was a whole other. For example: I hate nothing more than burpees, except for jump lunges. I hate those from the bottom of my heart, mostly because whereas my upper body has been responding really well to training and gains and stuff, my lower body just stays as chicken-y as ever. I got chicken-y legs and all the same how much I squat and eat, I don't gain any muscle (or fat) below my knees and even on my thighs, it's mostly fat. So, my legs are my weakness. And I hate regular lunges, because they mostly burn in my quads, not my bum or the back of my thighs, where you supposedly feel them. Most people have a muscle and strength imbalance between the front and the back of their thighs, which is why they tend to push up with their quads rather than their behind, which is why in turn instructors always keep telling you to push through your front heel and pinch your butt cheeks together while pushing up. In my case... both sides are equally weak. But, I noticed already before my short vacation in Germany, that I have much more power and strength and don't tire as fast (on a muscular level) if I actually go deeper and sit into the lunge and go down to that infamous 90° angle. The cardial fitness is another thing all together, because engaging my butt, I get out of breath rather quickly (larger muscle, and the gluteus maximus is one if not the biggest muscle in your body, higher oxygen consumption), but as I said, on a muscular level I don't tire as quickly, because my butt cheeks take much longer getting sore than my quads.

Do it the right way. Also, remember to eat well. My day in four pictures.

The point I meant to make: the cardio part of the workout was driven home much harder (muscles use up oxygen while working, so you don't need to run to get winded) and now my butt hurts. And the rest of my body hurts in exciting new ways or with a new intensity. So, for your health's and your fitness' sake, listen to your instructor even if going down to a 90 degree angle sounds impossible. It's actually easier. Or well, maybe it just hurts differently and in my case less. But yeah, listen to what advice they have to offer. Look at their posture and movement radius. Yes, you can do 20 squats in the time they do 10, but those 20 actually are as useful as 0 if you only quickly pulse between a 0 and 45° angle. So, if you do it, do it right, even if that means you have to swallow your pride when the small chick next to you does 20 more reps than you do. In the end, it's your workout. And while your pride might benefit from keeping up with her half-assing your technique, your body doesn't. 

Sh'Bam - or: comfort zones are personal

So, I had a great graduation weekend, but yesterday it was back to business as usual. I had a lot of stuff to do in the morning (massage, seeing my friend off, etc.) and then I was already expected at work. The only way to get some exercise in (after a weekend of eating and relaxing), was after work. And luckily there was still a Sh'Bam class given in the evening, so I could attend that.

Stop. Wait a second.

Me? Sh'Bam?

Well, yes. I have decided to try new things this summer and while Sh'Bam wasn't new to me per se (I had been attending one or two classes before, but it was disastrous), I wanted to get out of my comfort zone in the sense that I would try it again. For one, because it was the only class I could make it to in time and secondly, because I believe in widening my own horizon.

I mean, I enjoy bouldering. I love martial arts, be it MMA or Muay Thai. I've even tried out sword fighting. But dancing scares the living jack out of me. Because I'm no good at it.  Other people might be enjoying themselves greatly in dance classes and be afraid of climbing or boxing, but that's the thing about comfort zones, though: they are personal. I got two left feet and the lack of rhythm to match. When I say, the last Sh'Bam classes I attended were a disaster, I am talking about me being of the beat, being incredibly stiff, not getting the moves "right" and going into the wrong direction and bumping into the person next to me. 

Yesterday was different. I decided to not be bothered by being a little spazzy, because there's one thing everybody's comfort zones have in common: they should be broken every now and then. So, I tried, and then an instructor with whom I've always gotten along quite well, but who had been working at a different gym these last few years, turned out to be giving the class and she was thrilled to see me (as was I to see her). So, there went a lot of the sinking feeling in my stomach, because she can turn even the most dull class into a party. 

And let me tell you, I had fun. Once I started to let go of the thought that I'd have to be perfect, I had loads of fun. Plus, it was an intense workout, even though I did not really realise that at the time. At some point I noticed, I was severely winded, out of breath. From dancing around. It also helped that some of my fav songs - you know, guilty pleasures - were part of the choreo (e.g. Usher's Yeah). Take that, rewind it back. Usher got the voice make your booty go (smack)!

Sh'Bam is a Les Mills Group Fitness Class that features simple but effective dance moves to a wide range of music, from Latin to Pop to Hip Hop to "Golden Oldies". The class is 45 minutes and supposed to burn about 500 kcal. But most of all, it's supposed to be fun. 

MMA and Grit Strength 13 - or: Hearteyes, baby

Yesterday, I had a more relaxed training day, after Monday had been kind of rough. And by relaxed I mean... only 2,5hrs training. MMA and Body Balance. After Monday MMA was hard; we did a lot of hooks and upper cuts and my shoulders were sore from Body Combat and Body Pump the day before. Now, our coach always likes to send us back into the world with a grueling last exercise, yesterday it was jab-cross-tabata. We did jab-cross-combos (either fast or heavy) for a minute and got 20sec rest. Then again combos and rest. We did five rounds of that. Our coach actually took a video from that last set. I'm back there in the white Bad Boy-shorts and my technique is way off, I'm so tired. I wasn't even able to raise my hands properly:

MMA training

But. Today. I finally got to try Grit Strength 13 and I loved it. I did a "light" Body Combat class before and was already pretty done with the world, but I had to prove a point. To myself. Best decision ever. 

I love the new choreo. There's a new move in there: 

New Move

And it's coming up in Track 2 already. As always, track 1 is warm-up. Track 2 is 3 sets of two different moves you do for 30sec first. 3sec break. 10sec reps. 3sec break and a last 10sec rep round. The first move is squat to push press with a bar bell, the second is this new move. 

Track 3 is fun, because you get a little movement into the otherwise static set up: you have two teams facing each other, one does high knees for 30sec, the other upright rows to shoulder press. Then the teams change moves. After two rounds, the teams get new moves. Team 1 does jumping lunges (if there's anything I hate more than burpees, it's jump lunges...*sighs*) and team 2 moving press ups. 

Track 4 was 45sec for each set, first set 7 upright rows and 7 rows, as many rounds as possible. Second set 7 burpees (aaand there they are) and 7 press ups. After you're through with both sets, you do the same, but the rep count goes down from 7 to 5. 

Track 5 was the one minute challenge, where you took your weight plate, did a squat and one squat jump. Then one squat, two squat jumps and so on for - as the name of the challenge says - one minute. As many rounds as possible. I got to 7,4 today. 

And then it's core. And let me tell you, after these last few days, my core was incredibly sore. Actually, I can feel the muscles moving beneath the skin these days, which feels a tad weird, to be honest. I have never been an athletic child, so being an athletic adult still feels strange to me. 

But that's it, that's the new Grit. And I love it, because you can really push yourself to your limits (especially after a Body Combat-class). Came close to barfing today. But that's also the fast level changes, when doing stuff in an upright position and then going down to do a press up or sth of the sort. Does anyone of you know the feeling? It's not even being exhausted, but the fast level changes. 

And tomorrow my best friend is coming to visit for my graduation ceremony and we'll have a blast. She'll be here all weekend, so you'll probably not hear from me in a few days. Have a nice one, guys! :)

New Les Mills releases and a great weekend

June is already almost half way done. But that means that the new Les Mills choreos, the ones that will be with us all summer, have been released at our gym last weekend. On Sunday, to be exact. 

Saturday, to me, was a forced rest day, because I was at work from 7-16, and afterwards I visited a friend for her belated b-day bash. And seeing that we are both that breed of couch potato that does not appreciate wild parties and even wilder outings in town, she decided to bake muffins and pizza for the two of us and make it a movie night. We haven't had movie night in a long time and I haven't had pizza in a long time. For good measure, I also brought a packet of biscotti, and the DVDs: "Man of the Year" with the late Robin Williams and "Johnny English 2", mostly because I've been missing London these last few weeks months.

Home-made pizza!!!

But that's just how I spent my one rest day of the week. Sunday came finally and brought with it the new Body Balance and Body Combat releases (for me, that is). 

The new Balance was different. I find it hard to really judge a choreo after the first time around and with Balance, I'm almost always like... "Meh" after the first try. This time I liked the moves alright, but I wasn't too much into the music. Especially the first track didn't really get me into that "Balance"-feel, you know? 

The sun salutations are nice and I really liked the balance track, but the pilates core training was a bit... I don't know, boring? Plus, it went more on my hip flexors than into my core, but that might also be because my hip flexors are pretty tense most of the time. If it doesn't change, I have to ask our instructors for advice. 

The savasana at the end is great, though. Great music, you can follow along the piano melody lines into relaxation and calmness. And it just sounds pretty. Today, I will be trying Balance for the second time, maybe my feelings toward it will change a little.

In the afternoon I went and tried the new Combat, in which they changed not only the music, but also the lay out/concept of the class. Combat Class feels much fiercer now than it did before and the music reflects that as well. Instead of just being an interval class, it is now a high-intensity interval class, you might also call it HIIT. The first track already differs from its predecessors, even though the first Combat track might remind you of some of the ones that have been done before. It feels incredibly short, though. The first power track is already taking you to a different intensity if you roll with it and the second Combat track, track number 4, is conditioning as it already has been in 63. Number 5, the second power track is reminiscent of GRIT Cardio, with short intervals of hard work and a few breaks for your heart rate to come down. Track 6 killed me, though. I don't know if I ever mentioned that I hate - HATE - lunges. And track 6 has a lot of them. My legs were burning after that and the thought that there were still 2 aerobic tracks to go, one of which Muay Thai, was not a nice one. :D But Muay Thai is great!!! There's power and there's pain in this track and I just love it. You can really play yourself tired in this one. And then there's your basic track 8. But after that choreo, the basic track 8 feels hardcore, too. Conditioning and stretching are fine, there are only so many core exercises you can do and if you've been to a few CX classes, there are few things that are new. 

But after that class, I was done for the day. Really and genuinely done. 

After Body Combat 64. Lower right corner 30 seconds afterward, upper left 30 minutes after, when the endorphins started kicking in. 

Yesterday I did Combat again and afterward (and after a short break) I tried the new Pump. Lots of tension being built up and a pain in the ass. Or should I say a gain in the ass? The squats are okay if you do them so-so, but really engage in the track and shoot, you get your legs to shake. 

Chest hurts like hell with the right weight, I guess, yesterday I took it a little easier because my chest was already done in from the Combat conditioning and I did not know what was coming up. I loved the back track, which was really efficient in building strength and raising heart rates. The triceps track was okay, it was pretty similar to the one in 93, only the dips were a little nastier. Same with the biceps track. That one maybe let me down a little because I had heard beforehand that this one was reeeeaaal tough and then it was... well, I liked the one in 93 better and I got a better burn from it, but let's see what happens, maybe I get to add some weight... And then, lunges. Again. I did them without additional weight because my form goes way off, when I'm tired and doing them with weights. Also, I did not want to and could not find it in me to convince myself as my legs were already close to giving out. And it was good, because it was a lot of bottom ones. The track name "We Make It Bounce" is not a joke, I tell ya. The shoulder track. was. sick. I loved it. It burned and hurt in all the right places! And then there was core and stretching and we were done with that class, too. I liked it. In hindsight, I think I liked it a lot. 

I also kept working on my spine flexibility and yoga over all, after attending a class on Friday, where we were shown a pose called "Bird of Paradise", I made it my mission to perfect that pose. It looked so impossible at first, but actually it's quite easy. And it's a great stretch for your shoulders and legs. 

Bird of Paradise

Also, my hair has been growing so much into an emo thing (with it falling into my eyes all the time), that I have to take it together into a small "pony tail" these days. It looks ridiculous at best, but it is damn practical.

gym "bunny tail"

And now I'll put my hair into the bunny tail (because pony tail is just an exaggeration) and leave for MMA. For the first time in ages. Happy!!!

This love - hate - relationship...

You say you can't handle it
But there's no way to stop this now [...]
 Kick, scream call it quits
 But your just so full of it
cause it's too late, to close your mouth [...]
(Orianthi - Shut Up And Kiss Me)

Story time: when I started with the Grit series, I hated it.

I started out with Grit Plyo, because for one, it was something new, training explosive strength and agility. I also like jumping around. I'm not joking, I'm jumping a lot. And Grit Plyo was jumping on the next level. Didn't hurt that I really liked the instructor who made us jump. But HIIT is not for the faint of heart and it's... defo another, totally out there kind of exhausting. So, I hated it from the get go. Like, full-on hated it. But you're supposed to give workouts three to five tries before you decide if you like them or not. I tried to not be too judgemental. Hate. Hate. Wait...  I went the fourth time. Fifth. Sixth. And eventually I found myself telling my friends that "You gotta try this! It's the best thing ever!!!" What had happened?

The beauty that is Grit: I noticed changes, progress. I noticed how I could get in more reps after only two weeks. I felt better and...then there's the definitely wrongly coined "runner's high" when the feeling you have to puke ceases and the endorphins hit. So, I gave Grit Strength a go, too. Oh, and how I loathed it! From the bottom of my heart hated it, swore to never do it ever again. Well. Four weeks ago - exactly two years after my first shot at Plyo - was one of the greatest moments concerning progress so far; during Strength we did last summer's choreo. And I did not think about the weight I'd put on my smart bar, it was the weight I had been using for the newest release for the last few weeks. Until I realised: I did the whole choreo with 5kg (plus 3kg smart bar) more than last summer and yes, it was hard, but manageable. "This is my benchmark now" I don't like using expletives, but Fuck yeah!

Sounds sappy, but two years after I started doing Grit and completely hated it, it is now hard to imagine life without Grit. I've seen muscle definition and strength, rep count and agility increase and it's addictive. What I once thought to be the worst thing I had ever gone through, is now one of the highlights of my week. They should write a Hollywood romance about this hate-relationship turned love. ;)

So, if you ever get the chance to visit a Grit class, do it and don't judge it on the first go. :)

What's Love Got to Do With It - Body Combat 60

Well, just about everything, if you ask me. I don't think I'd be able to drag myself to the gym or to MMA training if I did not love the feeling. And I'm not only talking about the feeling afterwards, but I'm also talking about the feeling you have while working out. The burning in your quads when you're doing the last reps of a squat track, the burning in your lungs when you're going as fast or hard as you can, or the moment you realise that you are able to do something better now than a few weeks ago. There's just so many things in sports and fitness that make it fun and enjoyable that I seriously cannot understand how there are people who don't like it or even worse have never even tried it.

But back to why I wanted to write in the first place: Yesterday I managed to try out the new Body Combat 60, and well, I did not love it right away like the last release. Sometimes the tracks just felt, I don't know, too short. Just when you get the hang of it and really want to go at it, the track is already over. But this is something that will probably get better as soon as I don't have to think about the choreo anymore. The music was okay. And that was another factor why I did not feel as blown away as I felt during earlier releases. Hit Me With Your Best Shot was kind of cool and took it away from the start, but... I never really liked Roar and it did not help that it has been overused in other group fitness classes, so that was a downer. The combat and power tracks were pretty basic, no big surprises there, but track number 6 was fun. A little karate in track 6 again and back kicks. I kind of miss the old back kick heavy sixes. Still, up until then, I wasn't really exhausted (maybe because of the aforementioned problem), BUT: I loved, loved, loved the Muay Thai track. Which has not always been a given during the last two years, but this releases number 7 is great, exhausting and really takes you to the edge. Oh, and your abs are going to thank you, too. Especially during the toning track :D Yesterday I actually achieved muscle failure during the last few reps of toning. Nothing that happens everyday.
So, Body Combat 60 is a solid, pretty basic release using mostly basic moves (except for the stance switch, even though this, too has been seen in earlier releases, and the superman punch) and probably pretty good for newbies as you can hone your upper cut technique and perfect your hooks. A long set of roundhouse kicks in the warm up lets you work on this technique, too. If you have been waiting for a good release to start your Body Combat career with, take the chance and stay with the fight, it's only getting better from here :)